Local library system named finalist for national award

Thursday

Feb 14, 2013 at 8:22 PM

The Terrebonne Parish Library System has received national recognition for its service to the community.

Kris JohnsonStaff Writer

The Terrebonne Parish Library System has received national recognition for its service to the community. The Institute of Museum and Library Services selected the library system, along with 15 others across the country, as a finalist for the 2013 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. “We have put Terrebonne Parish on the map and made history,” said Mary Cosper Leboeuf, director of the Terrebonne Library System. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Medal is the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for their service, a news release from the institute said.All libraries under the agency are considered for the award. But if library staff members choose, they can apply for the medal, giving them the chance to provide firsthand details about programs and services the library offers. About 100 libraries applied, including the local system. Finalists are selected from nationwide nominations of institutions that demonstrate innovative approaches to public service, exceeding the expected levels of community outreach. “This year’s finalists exemplify the many wonderful ways museums and libraries can respond to the needs and wants of the communities they serve,” agency director Susan Hildreth said Thursday in a news release. “We are finalists for this award because of the unique things we do in Terrebonne Parish. This award focuses on what libraries do for the community, and they have highlighted certain things we have done,” Leboeuf said. One of those things is the libraries’ collaborations with Future Leaders of America’s Gulf, or FLAG. The group is made up of local teens fighting for the Gulf Coast, Leboeuf said. “They are fighting issues and working with legislatures, and we’re proud to say we’re part of that group. They meet here, and we have staff members who work with that group,” she said. “This is unique, and this is the only library in the country that’s doing something like this.”Other services library officials said helped them qualify for the honor include Tools for Teachers and Science Saturday. “Because of the educational situation with the public schools in this state, the staff and I got together to decide how we can help those students. We started a program called Tools for Teachers and are working with them to help them learn what this public library has that can help them meet their grade-level expectations. We are showing them what they need to work with their students. I’m proud to say we started this initiative,” Leboeuf said. Science Saturday is a program for fourth- through sixth-graders. They come to the library to work on science experiments and get help learning in the science field. Leboeuf said the students will start robotics next month as part of the program. She added she hopes to expand the opportunity to other grades and other branches of the Terrebonne library system. “I always tell the staff that a library is not for a building filled with books but is the people who work here and the services we do,” Leboeuf said. “We’re doing a lot of good in our community. We even have a 90-year-old who knows how to use the iPad.” “I personally have a big belief in libraries,” said Parish President Michel Claudet. “And I will tell you this — a library says a lot about a community, and to have the best library in the state of Louisiana, as we have been selected in the past, and to be one of the best in the nation tells you a lot about the parish, and we should all be so thankful.” The Institute of Museum and Library Services is encouraging community members who have visited any of Terrebonne’s libraries to share their story on the agency’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/USIMLS. The final five winners of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service will be announced April 23, the same day the Terrebonne Parish Main Library will celebrate its 10-year anniversary. “Needless to say, we can’t wait, and we hope we win,” Leboeuf said.

Staff Writer Kris Johnson can be reached at 857-2207 or kris.johnson@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @krisLjo.